White House on Line 1!

On Monday afternoon my friend sent a email stating that the White House was hosting a conference call on Tuesday for the Haitian Diaspora. The call would feature key representatives from the White House, USAID, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Homeland Security. I jumped at the opportunity!

I took an early lunch so that I could participate. This post is mostly not editorial just the notes of the talking points the US officials gave.

The call was moderated by Tina Tchen, of the White House office of Public Engagement (public@who.eop.gov)

Patrick Gaspard, White House Director of the Office of Political Affairs, spoke about his love for Haiti as a Haitian American and praised the Haitian Diaspora for our involvement in the relief effort. He then restated the administration's sustained commitment to Haiti and said they welcomed our feedback. He said the US government is encouraged by the progress made on the ground. But they recognize they are under intense pressure and a tight deadline with the rainy season approaching.

Then Cheryl Mills, State Department Counselor got on the phone and spoke at length about the current situation on the ground. She has been working on Haiti since she joined last year. She stated that the US government has a very good relationship with Preval's administration and noted that prior to the quake there was relative calm, political stability and a few years of economic growth. She herself had been to Haiti 5 times since the quake. She stated that the State Dept. is working to make sure the Haitian community in the US has access to up-to-date info and also wants to make sure we can partner together for the long term recovery of Haiti. In terms of specifics she said, access to water was increasing daily but sanitation is still a problem. She also mentioned that there is increased levels of coordination on the ground; and that contrary to what the media says, the Haitian government is leading this effort with support from the international community.

Ms. Mills then spoke of the work of USAID and the leadership of Rajiv Shah. He had search and rescue teams on the ground within 24 hours. The US government has donated 3 million to the UN World Food Programme and so far 3,000 people have been employed through the UN Cash for Work program. Some NGOs have Cash for Work but Ms. Mills didn't have their employment numbers.

There will be a UN donor's conference in NY on March 31st. The Haitian government is drafting their reconstruction plan to present to donor countries (should have final draft by the 15th of March). Haiti's needs are long-term, this will be the first of many donor conferences. It will focus on funds for foundational work and cover year 1.

At the end the lines were open for a short Q& A (there was only 10 minutes for this). I listed the questions below that there was time to answer.

1. What is available for people seeking Temporary Protection Status (TPS)?
Visit www.uscis.gov for questions on Temporary Protection Status (TPS) or general humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti (in Kreyol and English)
Or call 800-375-5283.
TPS: US has received 25,000 applications majority from FL and NY. 15,000 from FL alone. The government has waived the fee for people applying (fee is usually $400). They were hoping more people would apply-- like 100,000. Trying to get the work out.


2. Where can people that have newly arrived go for assistance?
For newly arrived Haitians looking for assistance they should inquire about the Cuban Haitian Entrance program-- the two orgs more familiar and capable to help are Church World Service and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

3. The rainy season will begin in earnest in April, what are you doing to prepare?
State and USAID working with UN Shelter cluster-- working to distribute safe building materials/structure. Want to conduct training about transitional housing ans setting new building structures.

I have to say, even though I was bummed that they didn't get to all our questions, it was great to be engaged as a community. It was a good call and the White House in particular seem like they want to engage. In fact, they encouraged people email them with follow up questions and comments. I say, take them on their offer. We have to increase access to information about reconstruction plans and make a big stink if ordinary Haitians do not have a formal way to feed into the plans. I highly encourage you to email the White House office of Public Engagement with your concerns/questions.